Window cleaner



H. OBERGFELL WINDOW CLEANER sept. 22, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed oct.2'5, 195e ,vm/MAW mmf/rfa M, ww; E@

Sept. 22,1959 H. oBr-:RGFELL 2,904,805

WINDOW CLEANER Filed oct. 25, 1956 2 sheets-sheet 2 lllll United StatesPatent WINDOW CLEANER lHermann -ObergfelL Elmhurst, lll., assignor toBadger Tool & Mfg. Co., Chicago, 'Ill., a corporation .of Illinois fApplication October 2,51, 195,6., Serial No. A618,255

6 Claims. (Cl. 15--1-05) .im/.enden relates generell-y te .Sturdydurable .rust- Yrr-edf Scraper and Squeegee constructions Accordingly,an object of this invention is to provide a new and improved sturdydurable device to clean win.- .dou/s, to `clean other .types .ofsurfaces, to paint screens, .and the like Still another `object `o fthis invention is to provide deyices of the type above mentioned whichlend 'themselves ,to economical manufacture on a large production basis.

According to the .general features of Ithis invention .there ,is providea T-shaped device f0.1' cleaning windows and the like including a clamphaving superimposed Plates with intermediate segments nestedvtogethenand having filmed outwardly depending terminal segments .etloppe- Site ends of the intermediate segments for clamping between theends .of the terminal segments window ,cleaner elements. The plates arefastened together in .detachable Patented Sept. 22, 1959 f6 ICC Theclamp 14 includes superimposed irregularly configurated plates 16 and17, plate 16 being preferably made from stainless steel and plate 17along with the T- shaped bracket 15 and stem 13 being preferably made ofa copper coated metal such as steel. The handle 11 may be made from anysuitable material such as wood.

The plates 16 and 17 are maintained in detachable clamping relation bymeans of screws 18. The plates each include a transversely archedlongitudinal intermediate portion or segment 19 having at the oppositelong sides flaring divergently extending terminal flan-ge segments orside wings 20 and 21. The intermediate porf tions 19 have -radiusesprovided with a common midpoint, as is evident from Figure 3, to Afacilitate nested assembly thereof. The wing 20 on the lower plate 16has along its edge a plurality of teeth 22 which are turned or bentslightly outwardly out of the plane of the wing 20. These teeth are tofacilitate holding a cleaning element when in clamped assembly with theplate 17. The other wing 21011 the plate 16 has a longitudinallyextending rib 2 3. The wing v21 on the upper plate 17 is turned slightlyinwardly out of the plane of the wing 21 at 21a to facilitate clampingof a cleaning element.

As will be observed in Figure 3, the arched portion 19 of the upper ofthe plates is slightly narrower than the arched portion 19 of the lower.of the plates so that in the nested centrally aligned relationship ofthe arched assembly and the clamp is connected @to a handle ,by v

means of a return bent one-.piece reinforced stern. The stem has anenlarged head fixed-ly connected at ,one end -to one of the intermediatesegments and with abutting .ends depending from the head .and detaeheblyconnected at another and opposite vend with the handle.

Another feature of the present invention relates to arching theintermediate Segments so that they may be engaged in nested relationwith the stem to provide a reinforced assembly. i

Still another feature of this invention relates to providins a .clampfor .the device having superimposed irresularly congurated plates nested.one Within the other `and clamped together, with the plates each havinga central arched portion and divergent side wings.

A fnrther feature of this invention relates to the particular manner inwhich the cleaner ele ents are clamped between the plates.

Other objects and features of the present invention will more fullybecome apparent in view of the following detailed description taken inconjunction lwith the accompanying drawings illustrating ,thereinseveral embodiments and in which:

Figure l is a plan view of a scraper device;

Figure 2 is a front elevation ofthe device shown in vFigure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view takensubstantially on the line IIl--III in Figure 2 looking in the directionindicated by the arrow;

Figure 4 is an end view of a modiied surface preparing vdevice; and

Figure 5 is an exploded view of the device shown in Figure 4.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally my T- shaped scraper whichincludes a handle structure 11. The handle structure 11 includes ahandle 11a which is provided with a socket 12 into which an elongatedstem 13 is disposed. Connected to the other end of the stem 13 indetachable assembly therewith is a combination clamp and bracket 14 and15 respectively.

portions, the wing ilanges 20 and 21 on the sides of the wider archedportion of the lower plate are disposed vin spaced opposed pairedrelation to the wing ilanges 20 and 2 1 of the upper of the plates so asto enable clamp.- ing of the interposed window cleaning members there,-between. It will also be noted that the junctures o f the wing flangeswith the respective arched portions of the plates provide rigidreinforcing ribs directed oppositely to and coacting with the archedportions to rigidly reinforce the plates.

Disposed between the wings Ztl-20 is a plastic scraper 24. This type ofscraper is highly useful since it does not readily scratch surfaces towhich it is applied such as glass and the like due to itsself-lubricating char.- acter-isties. Secured between the other wings,namely Wings 2li-21, is a rubber wiper element 25. This wiper 2 5 has alongitudinally extending groove 26 which is adapted to nest with the rib23 when in clamped assembly. Outer `exposed surface 27 is beveled at aninclined angle while undersurface 28 has a plurality of ribs 29.

To assemble the cleaning elements 24 and 25 with the T-shaped device 10,the elements are each guided be tween the superimposed sets of wings 20and 21 and the screws 1S are threaded therethrough to draw and clamp theplates together- To provide a reinforced construction between the clamp14 and the vstem 13 which are interlocked or loosely clinched togetherat 3i) a new and improved bracket 15 has been evolved. This bracketcomprises a one-piece strip having its free arched ends or portions 31and 3 2 with their edges in confronting relation to form a handle tubewhich lends itself to being telescoped into the socket 33 defined by theend of the tubular stem .13. The ends and 31 are joined together by atubular spherical-like head on segment 34 which is adapted to be weldedor otherwise secured to the plate 16 and which is in nested assemblywith the intermediate arched portion 19 of the plate 16. To furtherreinforce the junction of the ends 31 and 32 with the segment 34 thejunction between the ends and the segment 33 is webbed at 3S.

The reference numeral indicates a modified type of T-shaped surfaceworking device of scraper. The same reference numerals are againapplicable Where identical elements appear as in the first form of myinvention.

It will be noted that in this form of my invention a,

clamp 14 and the bracket 15 are directly connected to a handle 11without the requirement of an elongated stern. It Will be appreciatedthat this type of device lends itself 'to other types of jobs as opposedto the first form of my invention. As an example, the elongated scrapermore readily lends itself to cleaning store windows than the shorterscraper 40.

In this instance, the scraper 40 has its handle 11' provided with asocket 12 at one end and a socket 41 at the other end. In assembly withthe lower end of the handle is an aluminum one-piece wedge-shapedscraper element 42 for scraping ice and the like from a surface.

In assembly with the clamp 14 is preferably a T-shaped plastic or liquidabsorbent sponge-like element 43 in place of the plastic scraper 24.

It will be appreciated that the device 40 lends itself to a wider numberof uses since it has a scraper, a wiper, and a foam element to applywater to a window or other similar job such as painting a screen.

It will be further appreciated that the T-shaped ele- -ment 43 isclamped to scraper 40 in generally the same manner as the plasticscraper 24 on the scraper 10. The element 43 differs in that it has afoot 44 at an inner end of the element 43 which is clamped between theplates of the clamp 14.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedWithout departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of thepresent invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A T-shaped device for cleaning windows and the like comprising aclamp having superimposed plates comprised of segments includingintermediate segments nested together and outwardly turned terminalsegments at opposite sides of said intermediate segments for clampingbetween the ends of the terminal segments window cleaner elements, saidplates being fastened together in detachable assembly, a handle, and areturn bent oneiece reinforced stem having an enlarged tubular headfixedly connected at one end to one of said intermediate segments andwith abutting ends depending from said head and detachably connected atanother and opposite end with said handle, both of the plates beingdisposed on top of said enlarged tubular head, the lowermost of theintermediate segments being vertically arched away from said handle andwith said enlarged end having an edge surface following the contour ofthe arch and being nestingly bottomed in assembly against the archedlowermost segment for long wear by reason of the heavy duty constructionwhich is adapted to withstand pressure.

2. In a window cleaning device, a pair of elongated and relativelynarrow metal plates each having a longitudinal transversely archedportion and at each long side of the arched portion of each plate amarginal wing flange extending angularly to the respective archedportion and flaring divergently relative to the wing ange on theopposite long side in each instance, the arched portion of one of saidplates being slightly wider than the arched portion of the other of saidplates, the junctures of said wing anges with the respective archedportions providing rigid reinforcing ribs directed oppositcly to andcoacting with said arched portions to rigidly reinforce the plates, the

plates being assembled with said wider arched portion of said one platenested rmly into the arched portion of the other plate and with the wingflanges on the sides of the wider arched portion disposed in spacedopposed paired relation to the wing flanges of the other of said plates,means securing the arched portions together, respective strip typewindowcleaning members retainingly clamped between the respective pairs ofwing flanges, and a handle secured to said one plate and projecting awayfrom the assembled plates.

3. A window cleaning device as defined in claim 2, wherein said meansfor securing the arched portions together comprise respective securingelements engaging the arched portions of the plates adjacent to theoppositel ends of the plates and operative to draw the arched portionsrmly toward one another.

4. A window cleaning device as defined in claim 2, wherein said handleincludes a stem having an enlarged head portion engaging the archedportion of said one plate substantially midway between the ends of saidone plate and between the reinforcing ribs of said one plate.

5. A window cleaning device according to claim 4 wherein said enlargedhead is of generally tubular form and nested within said arched portionof said one plate.

6. A reinforced T-shaped device for cleaning windows and the likeincluding handle structure and a clamp having a connection, the clamphaving superimposed irregularly configurated mated plates joinedtogether and with the plates having areas nested with respect to oneanother, said plates having side wing structure having outer divergiugtip ends extending away from the handle structure and central archedportions bulged in a direction away from the handle structure betweenthe outer tip ends for reinforcing the connection between the handlestructure and the clamp placing the arched portion in closer proximityto the tip ends, said central arched portions on said plates havingradiuses with a common midpoint and being in nested assembly, the handlestructure being fastened to said clamp at the area where said centralarched portions are in nested assembly, window cleaning structureretainingly supported by the side wing structure, and a fastenerstructure connecting said plates together and in clamped assembly withsaid window cleaning structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS970,563 Schwalen Sept. 20, 1910 1,786,037 Sturgis e Dec. 23, 19301,923,439 Hukill Aug. 22, 1933 2,082,582 Kling June 1, 1937 2,511,346Kennedy lune 13, 1950 2,741,789 Ray Apr. 17, 1956 2,745,126 Mora Mar.15, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 16,416 Great Britain '1 117,278 Sweden Feb. 17,1945 344,619 Great Britain Mar. 12, 1931 1,016,754 France Sept. 3, 1952

